Providing Creative Solutions For Automotive Dealers

Can We Really Do Better?

Is it possible to really do better? Do more sales, make more money, and have fun doing it? It is quite possible that our team is performing at its peak and we are tapped out. Without the right inventory, marketing, training, and people….we are toast. In other words its our ‘People, Processes, & Product’ that rules the day.

Do we have the right product? Face it even with tough market conditions and other retailers going after the same target audience, we must be able to offer a quality product at a decent price and still be able to make a profit. Are we really researching the many options we have to obtain the right product or are we just visiting the same old sources? Do we test out difference sources to find the products we need to take our business to the next level or are we so set in our ways that we just follow the path to obtain our product line up? Do we really research what the customer is really looking for? Well you get the idea.

In marketing it is the same thing. Are we still using the old method of marketing? By now we all know that over 80% of our customers use the Internet and mobile devices to find products and services. Even this is old news by now. If we are not proactively reaching out to our customer base using permission based marketing, we are already getting passed up. Cyber or social media marketing is not just placing product on the net, its reaching out to the customer at the right moment and right time to provide information so when the time comes for the customer to pull the trigger they naturally think of us.

When the time comes for the customer to reach out to us, is our team ready? Can we interactive with the customer in a professional way by providing information and still provide an incentive to get them to buy? Is our team able to work the phones, the net, and the showroom in the way our customers expect to be treated or are we still locked into the old ‘knock their heads off’ concept of selling? Is our team trained on what the customer is expecting in today’s market place?

Now to the last pillar, our people. Do we have professional people that see a career path with our company so they want to invest the time needed to improve their skills? Are we paying them a wage or commission which allows them to make a decent living? Do they see us as a mentor or leader or just a boss?

Yeah, I am preaching to the faithful..right? We do this all the time..or do we.

Before we start to push our employees, let’s make sure we give them the tools and lead by example.